Reed-organ.



"No. 811,087. PATENTBD JAN. so, 1906;

- P. 0. PRESTON.

REED ORGAN.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1, 1905.

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g; .Pemy fli msian Inventor Witnesses E Attorneys PATENTED JAN. 30, 1906.

P. O. PRESTON.

REED ORGAN.

APPLICATION FILED snrw. 1, 1905.

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Attorneys,

Witnesses UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

REED-ORGAN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

latented Jan. 30, 1906.

Application filed September 1,1905. Serial No. 276,753.

To all whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, PERoY C. PRESTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Denison, in the county of Grayson and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Reed Organ, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to reed-organs, and particularly to reed-board construction.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a reedboard of simple and. cheap construction in which a uniform tone may be produced throughout the register or registers and the freedom of communication between the reed-cells and pipe or resonance cells increased or decreased at different points in the length of the register in accordance with the pitch of the reed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a reed-board including reed-cells and resonance-cells in which the reed-cells are entirely separated from each other, while the resonance-cells are arranged in groups of two, three, four, or more, each group being divided from an adjacent group by a partition. and the members which form the group being partly divided from each other by partitions of varying length and height, communication between the reed-cells and resonancecells being more or less free in accordance with the positions of the cells in the register.

With these and other objects in view, as will more fully hereinafter appear, the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size, and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a reed-board constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the same in the plane of the resonance-cells, the section being on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a similar view in a plane of the reed-cells, the section being on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. vFig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the reed-board drawn to an enlarged scale, parts being broken away in order to more clearly illustrate the construction.

Like numerals of reference indicate corre-.

sponding parts in each of the several figures of the drawings.

The reed-cells 10 are of the same or of different width and in the presence instance are shown as of uniform width throughout the entire length of the register. The two longitudinal vertical faces of the reed board that is to say, the front and rear facesare arranged on lines that gradually converge from the base toward the treble end, and the reed-cells formed in the board are of gradually-increasing depth from the treble or from an intermediate point of the treble toward the base end of the register. These cells are provided with suitable means for the reception and support of reeds that may be of any desired character.

Above the reed-cells 10 are arranged pipecells 11, these being in the form of chambers, which will give aresonance tone on the sounding of a reed. The resonance-cells are of gradually-increasing height from the treble toward the base end of the register and are separated from the reed-cells by horizontallydisposed partitions 12, that form windguards, said wind-guards extending from the rear ends of the cells to a point adjacent to the front ends thereof, leaving an open space 13 to afford free communication between the front ends of the reed and pipe cells.

The resonance-cells 11 are separated from each other by vertical partitions 14, there being one of said partitions in vertical alinement with or forming a continuation of each of the vertical partitions employed to separate the reed-cells from each other.

In practice the partitions 14 are all formed initially of a height equal to the full height of the pipe-cells by the employment of the cutting-machine usually employed for the pur pose. Before the covering-piece 15 is placed on top of the reed-cells portions of some of the partitions 14 are cut away for the pur pose of dividing the resonance cells into groups, and the number of cells in each group will depend on the positions of such cells in the register, the groups adjacent to the base end of the scale comprising a larger number of cells than those near the treble end. The partitions between the several groups all 01(- tend completely to the cover, and thus inclose within the resonance-cells a volume of air to be set into vibration on the sounding of the reed. The intermediate resonance-cell partitions are cut away at the rear end, and the length and the vertical height of such cut depend also on the positions of the cells in the register. Where a group of three resonancecells is formed, it is placed in communication with three separate reed-cells, and each of the latter takes advantage of the entire volume of air confined in all three of the resonance cells. The communication between the cells of each group, however, is not such as to confine uniform volumes of air for the operation of all of the reeds throughout the register, inasmuch as the air volume in the base-cells must be greater than in the treblecells. This is accomplished in the present instance by graduating the size of the openings formed in the partitions which separate the resonance-cells of each group from each other, and the difference may be made more marked by connecting as many as four or five resonance-cells in a single group at or adjacent to the base end of the register, while only two or three cells are arranged in a group at or near the middle of the register.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1.. In a reed-board, reed-cells, resonancecells arranged above the reed-cells and separated therefrom by horizontally-disposed wind guards or partitions that terminate short of the front ends of the cells, partitions dividing the resonance-cells into groups, the

members of each group being in communica tion with each other,

2. In a reed-board, reed-cells and resonance cells, a horizontally disposed windguard or partition separating the reed-cells from the resonance-cells and terminating in advance of the front ends of said cells, the partitions which divide the resonance-cells having their rear ends cut away to place the cells in communication with each other, the lengths or depths of such partitions being determined by the positions of the cells in the register.

3. In a reed-organ, reed-cells and resonance-cells, a horizontally-disposed windguard or partition separating the reed-cells and resonance-cells from each other, and terminating short of the front ends of said cells, partitions dividing the resonance-cells into groups, and intermediate partitions dividing each group into separate cells, the rear ends of said intermediate partitions being cut away to place the cells of each group in communication with each other.

In testimony that I, claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

PERCY O. PRESTON.

Witnesses: I

M. O. SHARP, RICE MAXEY, 

